English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

The thing is, it is especially hard to figure these out because they no longer tell you why, and they also delay the awards so you don’t know quite what it was you did that caused something.

And this mobile crap sucks for people like Reg who don’t go in for that shit.

KitFox

Well, and you've got one for each.

tchrist

This is another problem.

KitFox

I could get the iOS one if I could remember where the beta link is.

tchrist

Shouldn’t you be able to get it from the Apple Store? I don’t know how these things work.

That’s the one nobody knows yet.

KitFox

1:12 AM

@tchrist Well, last I knew the iPad app was in Beta with limited participation.

tchrist

Oh, I see.

Google had the one for Android.

KitFox

I've been using that for a couple of months. It's OK.

tchrist

Still can’t believe how tiny everything is. Or that I can see it, actually.

My eyes locked at the close-to-me distance, unlike most ancient people, who need impossibly long arms.

I notice they got rid of the flagging hat to ease up on the mods. But they also got rid of the rep-cap ones.

KitFox

Did they? Was this a recent thing? I haven't been paying attention.

tchrist

Naw, from last year.

KitFox

1:21 AM

I don't remember one from last year. Oh, no, I do.

tchrist

Last year’s were much better.

Also much harder.

KitFox

Well, that's what you get when they don't spend weeks on snow animation.

tchrist

Gah.

The lack of the hats for 5/10/15 questions and also for answers, plus for rep-capping, has left everything sadly quiet. We got lots of good questions because of the hats.

Still full of dreck.

KitFox

Yeah. No reason for me to increase participation this year.

Not even for the dash.

tchrist

I know.

I did give out about 20 hats last night, just to keep ELU’s overall ranking up.

KitFox

1:30 AM

Excellent.

I have two.

tchrist

I’ve a queerio for it.

This one.

But most everybody on top has that hat already.

Or just look for stuff at 24.

The Guru Query is always nearly empty.

Plus somebody got all those last night.

KitFox

Hmm.

tchrist

The 24s are infinite though.

Only five goin’-on-100 for the Gold.

And I don’t wanna give it you-know-who.

KitFox

I don't.

tchrist

♦♦♦

Still, he made ELU happen.

KitFox

1:38 AM

I only see three under 100, so I don't get who you mean.

Sorry.

tchrist

I rather like Peter’s answer at 97, but I think most everybody has already voted on it.

Oh.

98

A: When should I use an em-dash, an en-dash, and a hyphen?

An em-dash is typically used to act as a comma or parenthesis to separate out phrases—or even just a word—in a sentence for various reasons (i.e. an appositive). Examples where an em-dash should be used: School is based on the three R’s—reading, writing, and ’rithemtic. Against all odds, Pete—t...

KitFox

Oh. Right.

Well, it's a CW at least.

tchrist

I don’t think there are any tag or tag wiki hats.

The only people who’ve gotten the last secret one haven’t done any tag stuff.

We’re thinking though that it is some action that doesn’t show up in the activity log unless you have the dev kit.

KitFox

You should just email Abby and ask her.

tchrist

Heh.

KitFox

1:43 AM

Maybe write a query.

Or activity on the um. Apps thingy.

tchrist

Praps.

KitFox

What is the thing I

am trying to think of?

Last year, it was a community ad thing. Maybe again this year?

tchrist

Yes, that was very hard to figure out.

Doing something on a site’s meta would explain why it isn’t in the main site’s activity log.

KitFox

Who has it?

tchrist

Let me look.

Oded ♦, London, United Kingdom

283k 37 406 621

c# .net asp.net sql html vb.net sql-server

But we were told it was not a mod action.

KitFox

1:59 AM

Oh. He earned it on Meta.

tchrist

Right. And that log is reasonably visible.

meta.stackexchange.com/users/140505/oded?tab=activity

He says it’s not a mod thing.

You know.

He did edit a bunch of tags.

But people have tried that as a repro, but no.

KitFox

And there isn't a tag edit hat this year, right?

tchrist

Unless it’s that one, that’s right: there is not.

Oh my Lord.

waits

It isn’t posting comments to the Hat-dash blog posting.

KitFox

Creating new tags?

He also has recent Good Answer and Nice Answer.

tchrist

He added Stack-Snippets and branded some Status-Completed.

But Stack-Snippets already existed.

He removed the stackoverflow tag.

KitFox

2:08 AM

There is a suggestion that it has to do with doing several activities in short succession.

Maybe tag edits on X number of posts in 2 minutes?

Editing a comment?

tchrist

Lots of stuff is in fast time.

Well, some.

He got an accepted answer on a winterbash question.

KitFox

Within 5 minutes or something?

There was the Yeager last year.

tchrist

I have a secret hat because of a timing thing: you have to edit a bunch of old postings in a small amount of time, and they may have to be in different years.

I wish we could get full UTC times on events. I thought we used to be able to.

Oh wait, yes we can.

KitFox

Oh? Which one is that?

tchrist

The timeline will give better times.

Time Lord.

KitFox

2:12 AM

Oh.

tchrist

Let’s see: tag edit at 11:54, 10:07, and another at 10:07. Hm.

KitFox

Comment, answer, comment on different posts?

tchrist

That’s a pretty typical sequence, unless it has to be time-constrained.

KitFox

Actually...if it's a time and task thing, maybe it's answer on one site, answer on another site (or comment) within 5 minutes. He did that.

Nope. Can't be. Abby has one and no such behavior.

tchrist

Oh.

On which site?

Meta.

KitFox

2:20 AM

Lifehacks.

Which is in private beta.

Oh! So maybe we just don't get to see her activity there.

tchrist

Yeah, that makes it harder when you can’t dig around. Like, impossible.

I still have my doubts about cross-site activity.

Unless it’s crosssite with a meta, which in this case, it cannot be. Meta.SE has no corresponding non-meta.

KitFox

And Oded only used mod tags?

tchrist

Supposedly that is not it, but yeah, one wonders.

No, he didn’t.

He did the Stack-Snippets tag.

I just did two tag edits within about 3 seconds. We’ll see.

KitFox

Maybe have an answer accepted quickly?

tchrist

probes timeline again

Yes, 15m.

meta.stackexchange.com/posts/245217/timeline

But surely this has happened elsewhere.

KitFox

2:27 AM

Or revised the question and answered in less than 5 minutes or something?

skullpatrol

Can there really be such a thing as a "Lord of Time"?

KitFox

Edit tags and then answer immediately would do that.

tchrist

Oh right, there are like new badges about that, aren’t there?

KitFox

Or maybe even edit tags and answer within 15 minutes of the question being posted.

Or something.

tchrist

Cool, I’m #2 network wide.

KitFox

2:32 AM

Hmm. Looks like the definition that was put out there is dubious at best. We might be barking up the wrong tree here.

tchrist

All we know is that he got it.

medica

I have to say, I think Marge looks lovely in candles.

skullpatrol

Hi @medica

medica

@tchrist - how did you get the time lord hat?

tchrist

Carefully.

medica

2:34 AM

@skullpatrol Hi, skull. No hat?

skullpatrol

Nope

medica

@tchrist good. No one would be happy if you got hurt.

tchrist

Laura has it too.

medica

Who is Laura?

skullpatrol

Lordess?

or
Goddess of time

tchrist

2:37 AM

21

A: Winter Bash 2014 Secret Hats

This guy has a HairBoat! How?... No idea... (By being an uber-mod?) If we can believe the rumors that there are 8 secret hats, then maybe this is the last one not mentioned yet? (I for one don't believe in such rumors.)

Sigh.

meta.stackexchange.com/users/166017/laura?tab=allactivity

Her only hat.

And another mod.

So the only three people we know with it are all mods??

medica

Ah, thank you @tchrist

tchrist

But Oded swears anyone can get it.

KitFox

No, there's a Lifehacker who has it and is non-mod.

medica

How do you all keep up with this?

I got 13 hats and I'm feeling tired already

Last year, it was fun

tchrist

They both posted a comment to a question with a winterbash tag that mentions 2015.

I can’t see anything else that Laura has done.

skullpatrol

2:40 AM

Life has no "hacks". If you think it does you're kidding yourself.

tchrist

And, curiously, Abby locked it.

70

Q: What should we consider for next year's Winter Bash?

At this point, I am relatively confident that Winter Bash will become an annual event. The event is oodles of fun for our communities, and almost everything we do as employees in putting the event together is done with an eye toward repeatability and automation. With that in mind, I see a lot o...

discussion winterbash winterbash-2014

medica

Abby is a mod, her I've seen. But who is Laura? Also a mod?

tchrist

They commented on something that had no comment this year, also.

Laura is a PM for SE.

medica

thanks. Never ran into her.

skullpatrol

:O project manager?

medica

2:44 AM

"repeatability and automation" takes a bit of the fun out. well, not automation.

But repeatability does.

tchrist

Testing.

Am testing.

skullpatrol

Testing what?

tchrist

Twice. On verra.

Squirrels.

Secret squirrels.

skullpatrol

icic

medica

(what are secret squirrels?)

tchrist

2:47 AM

The darned latency makes it harder to connect cause and effect.

medica

I didn't bring the Raiders any luck, sorry. :(

skullpatrol

np

We need the first round draft choice anyway.

Youth will be served.

In raider nation

medica

:)

skullpatrol

:)

KitFox

@tchrist What about commenting on a post that hasn't had any activity in 6 months? Or whatever the tumbleweed range is. Or that hasn't had any new answers in a year? Or summat.

medica

2:50 AM

I was wondering why Andrew changed his logo. Does it work if you change it back? I rather like Marge Simpson.

KitFox

I don't think it has to be your picture.

medica

Is it truely random? or can it be just one thing?

tchrist

@KitFox No, just comment on anything of Abby’s.

medica

@tchrist did you just get another hat?

tchrist